Shoe-lace.



PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

G. B. ISAKSON.

SHOE LACE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 190s.

N0 MODEL.

/N VEN TOR CZarZesa/o n A Tron/VE ys W/ TNE SSE S.'

UNTTEDV STATES Patented August 16, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES B. ISAKSON, OF NEW YORK, N. YY., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN E. D. ISAKSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEl/V YORK.

SHOE-LACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,891, dated August 16, 1904. Application filed September 23, 1903. Serial No. 174,308. (No model.)

T0 all whom if may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. IsAKsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a-resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Shoe-Lace, of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved shoe-lace arranged to permit of quickly lacing and unlacing a shoe and for holding the lace securely in place on the eyelets, studs, or other lace-retainers of the shoe when the latter is laced up. i

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings. forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corre,- sponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a perspective view of the improvement as applied. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofthe shoe-lace.

The shoe-lace consists, essentially, of a body portion A of a non-elastic butfleXible material, preferably a braid, and one end of the body portion is provided with a retaining device B, such as a knot or the like, for abutting against the inside of the lowermost or starting eyelet O of a shoe D (see Fig. 2) to prevent this end of the lace from slipping through the said eyelet, and the other end of the body portion A terminates in an elastic E, having a tip F at its outer end, the said elastic E being integrally connected with the body portion and preferably of the same thickness, shape, and' color as the body portion. The

length of the elastic E corresponds approximately to somewhat less than. the distance from the upper edge of the shoe D to the last eyelet O. The'tip F .is preferably made of metal capable of being bent` into a hook to hook onto the upper edge of the shoe, as plainly shown in Figs. l and 2; but other means may be employed to fasten this end of the lace to the shoe.

In using the shoe-lace the tip F is first passed through the first or bottom eyelet O from the inside of the shoe, and then the lace-body is drawn through the eyelet until the retaining device B abuts against the inner side of the eyelet O. rlhe lace is now passed through the following eyelets C2 and O3, and after passing the upper eyelet O3, opposite the eyelet O', the body portion is hooked onto the alternate hooks or studs D in a zigzag manner and finally returned in a like manner and hooked over the alternate hooks or studs D', from the last one of which the lace is passed through the eyelet C to the inside'of the shoe and eX- tended up along one side thereof to the upper edge of the shoe. The tip F is now bent into ahook to hook onto the upper edge of the shoe. When the shoe is to be placed on the wearers foot, the lace is unhooked from the hooks or studs D D for the shoe to open and to be readily slipped onto the wearers foot, it being understood that the elastic E yields or stretches sufliciently to allow convenient unhooking of the last lace-loop A from the last or lowermost hook or stud D', and when the loop A is unhooked and released by the operator then the elastic contracts. When the shoe is on the wearers foot, the lace is hooked onto the hooks or studs D D in the manner above described, it being understood that in order to form the last loop A to be hooked onto the lowermost hook or stud Dl the elastic is stretched, and as soon as the loop A is hooked on its stud and released by the operator then the elastic E contracts by its own elasticity and draws the said loop A tight. The shoe is now tightly laced, and as both ends of the lace are held securely in position on the shoe it is evident the lace cannot become loose.

From the foregoing it will loe seen that the shoe can be readily laced or unlaced 4by the operator using but one hand. When the shoe is laced, the elastic remains slightly under tension, so as'to hold the lace in place on the hooks or studs, and the elastic is free to yield to allow movement oi' the lace on the hooks or studs when bending the foot, thus avoiding undue strain on the foot and on the lacing.

In order to facilitate the unlacing, it may be desirable to employ a small slide G on the lace at the last loop A and between the first stud D and the eye (I. By having' the slide G arranged as described the operator can readily take hold of the button to pull the loop A oli the stud D' when unlaeingl the shoe.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patenti4 l. A lace having a body portion of flexible material, one end portion of said lace being elastic and the other end portion non-elastic, a bendable tip at the extremity of the elastic portion capable of being manually formed into a hook, and a retainer at the extremity of the non-elastic portion.

2. A lace having a body portion of flexible material, one part of said lace being elastic and the other part non-elastic, a bendable tip at the termination of the elastic portion capable of beingl manually formed into a. hook, and the non-elastic portion being provided at its end with a retainer, and a slide on said lace.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES B. ISAKSON.

Vitnesses:

THEO. G. Hos'rER, EVERARD B. MARsI-IALL. 

